


A fate twisted

by Dusklatte



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternative ending to Birthright, Angst, Based on Birthright chapter 18 but diverges, Conflicted Emotions, F/M, Future Explicit Content, Imprisonment, Leo making impulsive decisions, Perhaps future teasing by Niles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-01-24 02:27:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18562072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dusklatte/pseuds/Dusklatte
Summary: It had started simply - Hoshido's army, led by Princess Corrin, were advancing on Nohr. They had managed to make their way through most of the Woods of the Forlorn... but were stopped in their tracks by an unfortunate encounter.





	1. Stuck in the mud

**Author's Note:**

> I can explain....
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> I love Chapter 18 of Birthright.  
> Mostly 'cause of Leo and Niles.  
> Yeah.

Corrin shuddered as she looked at her surroundings, and took in the dark scenery which felt as though it was wanting to envelop her and her allies at any given moment… What she feared most though, was getting lost. Felicia knew her way around well, and Jakob did somewhat, but almost everyone else knew nothing about these woods. If she were to get lost… Or anyone else, for that matter… Would they ever be able to reunite? Losing her siblings once more would be enough to tear her heart to pieces.

“Lady Corrin… If I remember correctly, there should be a swamp nearby – but I’ve never actually been to that part, so I’m not too sure on what to expect… I don’t know whether the Nohrian army will be there...” Felicia had approached Corrin, before pointing towards her right. “Um… Do we go that way, or take a different route?”

Corrin smiled gently at Felicia, knowing she was doing her absolute best after losing her sister, before nodding. “I trust your judgement on where to go, Felicia. You know this place better than anyone, and you’ve been working so hard to help us...”

A slight blush formed on her face, before she nodded and went over to Ryoma to explain where the army would be going next. That left Corrin alone in her thoughts once more, as she did her best to remain at the front of the moving army.

There had to be a reason why this place was called ‘The Woods of the Forlorn’… And she had a horrible feeling that the swamp up ahead would explain exactly why.

Sakura’s shriek confirmed her thoughts. “It- It’s a graveyard-! Wh- Why would there be a graveyard in a s- swamp?!” The youngest Hoshidan royal ran over to her closest sibling, Takumi, before clinging onto him in an attempt to stay calm.

“Gods… This place is horrible…” Hinoka’s whispers didn’t go unheard either.

“Watch out!” Jakob’s sudden shout brought everyone’s attention towards an area of swamp directly before them though… Where faceless were starting to drag themselves out of the murky waters. Corrin’s face had turned completely pale by this point, not that it could be seen in the dark surroundings… Which appeared to slowly be getting foggier.

With a deep breath, Corrin decided it was her turn to say something. “Everyone – stay close… I feel as though something else is coming… There has got to be something controlling the faceless if they suddenly emerged when we got here!”

The sound of crows cawing as they evacuated the trees, and slow – almost sarcastic – clapping began to fill the air as the fog grew more dense. “I see you’re as sharp as ever, _sister._ It’s just a shame you won’t be getting out of here alive. You would have been a wonder in Nohr’s army… Now you’re just a _traitor.”_

It took almost no time at all for her to know whose voice that was.

“Leo...”

A deep sadness filled her chest when her brother- her _former_ brother – emerged from the fog. He was talking about her being a traitor, and all that did was make her hurt even more. She almost completely zoned out of everything going on around her as rage appeared to be building up in Leo’s face, with her thinking about what could have happened if she had chosen Nohr. _Would this situation be reversed if she remained in her adoptive country? Would she be facing against Takumi at this point…? She would never be able to hurt either of them…_

Ryoma firmly grasping hold of her arm is what returned her to reality. “Corrin! You’re not sinking! What is going on?!” She then looked at her older brother’s feet, and gasped as she watched them slowly be enveloped by the earth, whilst her feet remained flat on the ground. “Prince Leo cast some sort of spell, and now most of the army is sinking!”

Corrin’s eyes scanned over everyone in the army, and noticed how those who were flying were doing their best to pull people up, as well as Jakob, Felicia, and Silas attempting to recover some others.

“Have you noticed, _sister?_ The swamp is cursed… It doesn’t affect Nohrians. Those who are Hoshidan though… They will sink. But it appears as though you are not sinking, despite joining with Hoshidans…. Perhaps you are still a Nohrian at heart, after all. But it is too late – Father wishes for you to be removed from the picture, and I must not disobey him or the law on traitors simply because of something such as this.” Leo raised his tome, and sent out a blast of dark magic. Corrin was horrified when she realised that it was aimed directly at Ryoma, who appeared to no longer be sinking, but was still very much stuck in the mud.

Corrin quickly deflected the blast with her sword, before looking at her older brother. “Ryoma – I feel we will be able to stop this mud situation if we deal with Leo… For now, I will go after him with Jakob and Felicia – if possible, try and get to areas where the land is dry as it doesn’t seem to be impacting people stood there… Try and deal with the faceless once everyone is free from the swamp!”

“Yes… Going with a smaller group to aim for Leo may be best… I’ll take care of the army here, and you do what you need to do, sister.” Ryoma smiled and nodded as he eventually fought one of his feet free from the mud, before turning to face those who were still sinking. “Don’t worry about us – nobody will die because of a bit of mud.”

With Corrin’s fears now subsiding thanks to Ryoma’s reassurances, she grouped up with Jakob and Felicia in order to brief them on her plan.

Jakob and Felicia were going to keep Leo’s retainers distracted. Odin and Niles appeared to be easy enough to defeat… It was just their personalities that presented a challenge. Felicia went after Odin, whilst Jakob was after Niles. That left Corrin face-to-face with Leo.

“Leo… Why must you insist on killing us all? This isn’t you – this is father’s madness! You can help us with stopping his pointless war against Hoshido! You’re so talented and dedicated, and I’ve always admired that!” Corrin _really_ didn’t want to have to fight Leo, but she could straight away see that it wasn’t going to be as easy as talking him out of it. “Do you know why I chose to remain with my Hoshidan family?”

“Because in reality, you couldn’t stand us? Because you had been brainwashed to despise Nohrians? Because you want to cause pain to those who cared for you since you were little?!”

“No… No, Leo! It’s not because of you, or any of our siblings… It’s all because of father! He sent me to the Hoshidan border with a cursed sword knowing that I would be captured, and taken to see Queen Mikoto – my birth mother… And the sword _exploded._ My mother was killed, protecting me from the shards of rubble caused by the sword… He wanted me dead, and wanted mother dead… He wanted to take over Hoshido as it crumbles without a leader, crumbles as it mourns the death of its recently returned lost princess! I- _We_ have to stop him from doing such a thing!”

Leo’s hand trembled slightly on his tome, before shaking his head. “You’re lying to me… Father wouldn’t have set up such a deliberate plan! How do we know you are not trying to frame him?!”

“Leo!” Corrin was feeling angry that he wasn’t open to listening to her honesty, before tears began to pour down her face. “I’m so sorry, little brother… I have always loved you, and I’m so upset that we are going to have to do this...”

“Hmph. It appears that your true allegiance is starting to show, _traitor._ ” In the time she had taken to talk, her feet were slowly beginning to sink down. Tears shed down her face as Leo began to cast a spell, aimed directly towards her. But his hand was wavering. _So… That meant that he didn’t want to do this?_

“Oh Lord Leo, I have returned… That butler of your sister’s was all talk and no bite. He was oh so snarky, and his face was so pained as he lost consciousness...” Niles had returned to Leo’s side, bragging about his victory over Jakob, whilst being fully aware that Corrin was there. “Now, what were his last words… Ah, yes… ‘Don’t you lay a finger on Lady Corrin, you fiend’… And then down he went.”

Hearing what Niles was saying was enough to break Corrin’s resolve completely. Leo refused to believe her, her family were trapped in the muddy areas of the swamp, and now Jakob had been taken down and could possibly have died.

She shook her head, before trying to free her feet to run to where Jakob should have been. The adrenalin was coursing through her body, especially at the fact that Leo was once more preparing to cast a spell.

“No running away, Corrin… Why don’t you accept your fate? Under Nohrian law, your punishment is death. You’re lucky that Niles left Jakob breathing, as he should be facing the same punishment.” Leo’s hand rose into the air, his blast almost ready to be released.

In the distance, she could hear a commotion as it appeared that her allies had found where Jakob had been left in the swamp, so at least she knew that he was safe if he survived Niles' attack.

“D… Don’t… Please, don’t… I- I don’t want to die… M- Maybe...” Corrin knew that if she were to live, the Hoshidan army would continue on. But if she were to fall… Everything would be over here and now. She knew that if Garon were to be stopped, she needed to live. She was the wielder of Yato – the weapon said to be capable of ending wars and bringing about peace. Her friends would need her… She knew that she needed an excuse, and quickly.

Sinking to her knees, Corrin dropped Yato on the ground, tears now beginning to pour steadily down her face. “L- Leo… Let me live – please… I’ll s- surrender my weapons, and- and surely father would want the honours of killing me himself, wouldn’t he? Hah...” She shook her head, starting to laugh and cry. “I bet he’d love that… publicly humiliating me for betraying Nohr, before making me lose my head… And he would be able to guarantee his victory in the war, possessing my sword...”

Her words were enough to make Leo raise an eyebrow. He would be disobeying his father if he let her live, but at the same time… He knew that his father had been rather insistent on wanting to personally see Corrin’s dead body so that he knew she had paid for her betrayal. If he had the opportunity to do that… Perhaps his mood would lighten up somewhat. Maybe… He could persuade his father that the Hoshidans had brainwashed her, and let her live...

“Niles… Capture her. Before the Hoshidans arrive – I can see them beginning to move in this direction. We leave once that is done.”

“Of course, Lord Leo… Seeing your former sister tied and bound though… Oh, she’ll be quite the sight...”

“Ugh, Niles, stop being disgusting and get it done quickly. I’ll retrieve Odin whilst you do that. But first...” Leo finally did as he had been preparing to do since he was face-to-face with Corrin, and attacked her with the magic he had been building up. A saddened frown formed on his face as she collapsed into the mud, her body limp.

Niles quickly went and retrieved the unconscious princess, and then realised that Leo was looking highly conflicted. He had seen this face on his liege before, and only when the topic of killing a certain princess came up… Leo clearly didn’t want Corrin dead.


	2. Outskirts of the capital

Leo frowned as he looked at the unconscious Corrin, lying on some ragged blankets on the floor of an abandoned shack which he had found on his way back to Nohr’s capital. He had ordered that Niles and Odin take turns to keep watch, just in case any of the Hoshidans attempted to rescue her.

He knew for a fact that Corrin was plotting something when she surrendered herself, but he wasn’t too sure on what this plan happened to be. He wanted to play along, but only for now. If it came to causing harm to any of his siblings, or even his father… He knew that he would have to end her, or else he would be met with an even worse fate.

Plus, there was always the risk of Iago sneakily watching over him… He may have already earned himself the death sentence by considering Corrin’s pleas, and having that reported back to his father.

“Damn it all, Corrin… Why did you ever have to come into my life? Things would be much more convenient if I had never seen you as my sister...” Then he fell silent, as he saw her body shiver slightly as a cold droplet of water fell onto her arm. “But then again… You never have been my sister, have you? Just… a prisoner of our family. As much as I don’t wish to admit it… But it still hurt when you abandoned us for your actual family. We wanted you to stay with us… I swear, I’ve not been given a moment of peace since you left… If it hasn’t been Camilla trying to dote over me, it’s Elise crying or Xander pushing me into training with him...” Leo huffed, and sat down against the wall opposite to Corrin. “I hate to admit it, but I needed you there. But you _weren’t..._ You had better make it up to me before father kills you.”

Leo then buried his head in his hands as the room remained silent, before reaching to his side and picking up a blue stone which had fallen out of Corrin’s armour after she had been brought to this drab building. He didn’t know what it was… but clearly it was something Corrin treasured. He could always remember her being fascinated with a variety of bizarre trinkets when younger. She once got upset at somebody trying to dispose of an old fork which was far too damaged to even wash.

He had seen something similar before this point… It was almost like the stones which the Wolfskin used to transform. But… There was something mysterious about it… It looked both solid, yet as though it were water in his hand…

Curiosity eventually got the better of him, and he approached Corrin with the stone in his hand. He brought it closer to her, and noticed that she appeared to be somehow more relaxed. Then… he heard a quiet whisper.

“Don’t take it away… I don’t want to lose control again… Please...” Corrin’s eyes had slightly opened, and her attention was on the stone in his hand.

“Lose control? To be fair, nobody has ever been able to control _you_ , Corrin.”

“… You… You weren’t there when my mother died…” Similar to when she had been told that Jakob was injured, her eyes were welling up again. “Everything hurt… I- I felt whole, then… I was torn apart… I felt as though I was… drowning...” Her voice was shaky, and Leo could tell that the uncomfortable position on the floor wasn’t helping her either. He rolled his eyes, and gently pulled her up so that she was sitting.

“This still doesn’t explain why you need the stone… It’s obviously not something from this world, so why would you even need it because you were upset?”

Corrin opened her eyes more, and some of her hair fell into her face. “… You wouldn’t believe me…” She allowed herself to sink down slightly, though ended up scraping her arms on the stone wall. “I can still barely believe it...”

Fully aware that Corrin wasn’t going to explain why she needed the stone, Leo decided that it was best to put it away. He wouldn’t destroy it for now, but if, upon further research when he returned to the castle, it turned out to be dangerous… he knew it would need to be disposed of.

A few moments later though, the door to the room creaked open, and Odin silently appeared, looking highly concerned. Corrin bit her lip, scared it was a sign that she was going to be in _serious_ trouble, but Leo simply stood up and approached his retainer.

There was a hushed conversation for a few minutes then – something highly unusual for Odin – before Leo groaned out loud. “Iago… Damn...” He glanced back at Corrin, and shook his head. “I should have known that he would be following me – he thinks that we will all betray father, which is _absurd._ As a Nohrian prince, I would not turn my back on my own father – Corrin was Hoshidan, which explains her betrayal...”

He noticed a sudden look of sadness form on Corrin’s face, but he knew it was essential… If Iago were here, he would be looking for any sign at all to say that he had turned his back on his own kingdom.

_Even though Corrin’s presence here would be more than enough for Iago to cry wolf…_

_But he wanted Corrin to stay alive…_

_And he also wanted her to pay the price, or at the very least answer for her betrayal of Nohr… betrayal of her siblings…_

_And the betrayal of his feelings._


	3. Things remaining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sword and a hair pin - important things to Corrin - yet vital for Leo's survival and Jakob's recovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a short chapter, but I've been wanting to write to get my mind off the hectic few days I have coming up. I may edit slightly at a later point, as it is somewhat dialogue heavy.

“Explain yourself, Prince Leo… You’re likely not to live for much longer if your father hears about _this,”_ Iago muttered, staring at Corrin’s bound form from the corner of his eyes. “You’re not thinking of letting her _live,_ are you?”

A loud scoff came from Leo, followed by him shaking his head. “Honestly, I just want her to pay for the hurt she has caused our family… And I believe that father would be the best one to give her the punishment of death – not me. I would likely make it swift and painless, but father will make her suffer.” Leo didn’t even believe some of the words coming out of his mouth. Yes, he was theoretically taking Corrin to her death… But he didn’t want her to suffer if she did die. Only those who he held no form of attachment to would die that way at his hands.

A heavy silence filled the air for a moment, followed by Iago sighing. “ _Fine._ I’ll report this back to King Garon. I’m sure he will _enjoy_ setting the stage for the traitor to be executed...”

_Or, in other words, Garon will be extremely angry at Corrin still living, and will only have his rage satiated when Corrin breathed her last._

“Before you leave, Iago, take this to Father. He will appreciate possessing this – the ‘divine’ weapon which the traitor was wielding when I captured her. Yato – the weapon stated to have the power to end wars. If father possessed this power… Well, Hoshido would be no more.” Leo went over to the back wall of the room, and picked up the sword. For some reason, he could feel some sort of intense power emanating from it, which bore familiarity to the power he felt from Brynhildr.

It was hard for him to pass the sword to Iago, but thankfully made it appear as though he was confident whilst doing so.

Before long, he was alone with Corrin once more. He felt relieved… But at the same time, his chest felt tight. He couldn’t tell from Iago’s reactions as to whether he had doomed himself to the same fate as Corrin, or whether he will have earned himself some sort of semblance of praise.

_He didn’t want to just return to the castle, if things were so uncertain… He needed to guarantee his life before going any further._

Leo then looked at Corrin, before a smirk formed on his face. He had an idea… And he was going to need the one who claimed to love her the most to help him.

“Hey, Niles… I need you to do me a favour,” he began, waiting for his retainer (which he knew was trying to spy on him) to enter the room. “Could you enter the castle by the secret entrance which my sisters believe to be hidden from everyone else? I need you to get someone for me.”

Niles raised his eyebrow. “And who might this be, milord?”

“… Camilla.”

 

 

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

 

“There… I- I think he’s waking up now...” A familiar yet hushed voice was one of the first things which Jakob could hear, and gods, did he want to sigh at being surrounded by noise. “I- I’m so relieved, I thought I had lost Flora, Lady Corrin, _and_ him...”

There was a slight bit of shuffling about, followed by a small sigh. Jakob recognised that sigh anywhere… Felicia must have been there. But she had been speaking to someone, and there was also a sight floral smell in the air… A scent which he normally associated with Princess Sakura.

It would make sense, given how much pain he was in.

“Wonderful… Why does my body hurt?” Of course, that had to be his first words after waking up. It was true though…

_Jakob couldn’t remember why he wasn’t awake, or why he was aching all over._

A sudden gasp came from the maid. He opened his eyes at this point, and was startled by how close Felicia was to his face.“No way… Princess Sakura, you don’t think that he was hurt to the point he forgot what had happened?!” Felicia then realised how close she was, and moved back somewhat.

“No… I think it’s because he just woke up…” Sakura whispered, before giving Jakob a concerned look. “But, um… Do you not know why you’re here, Jakob?” He shook his head at her question as Felicia assisted him in sitting upright. “We were fighting Prince Leo and his retainers… You were fighting the one called… N-Niles? He almost killed you...”

Jakob remained silent, before he clenched his fist. What Sakura had said did sound familiar… And he could vaguely remember some form of taunt.

“But we dealt with them… yes? And Lady Corrin is safe and well?”

Sakura and Felicia exchanged concerned glances then. They had _hoped_ that Jakob regaining consciousness following the battle would provide answers to the very question he had asked. “About that, Jakob…” Felicia trailed off, and bit her lip. “Lady Corrin… We don’t know where she is. She disappeared at some point… There was only one thing of hers there when we found where she _should_ have been fighting Prince Leo...” Felicia then reached to a nearby table, and picked up a small item which was on it.

_Jakob knew that accessory… No matter what, in the mornings, Corrin would refuse to do anything unless she had it on her…_

“Her hair pin...”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day between Niles leaving, and returning with Camilla.  
> A day is too long for Leo to be left with his thoughts.

Knowing Niles, it would take him at least half a day to reach Windmire. A day in total to return with Camilla, depending on whether she would be bringing her own retainers along. Leo felt that would be… far too long to keep himself under control with Corrin tied up inside that run down shack.

Odin had taken over from him when it came to watching over the prisoner princess, and was responsible for making sure that she was fed and hydrated. That left the prince alone with his thoughts, which… wasn’t exactly the best situation for him to be in.

_He hated that his thoughts all had one recurring theme – the lewdness, all thanks to the way Niles had tied her up, as well as his mannerisms._

Though… Some thoughts made him feel guilty. Others… felt inappropriate. Some he actually humoured, until he felt himself be pulled back to reality by simple things such as cold wind blowing against his face.

One of the musings which kept coming back to him involved pinning her to a wall and forcing her to beg for forgiveness following her betrayal of Nohr, before asking her whether she would be willing to compensate him for the absolute ravishing of his emotions which he went through following her siding with Hoshido. He… liked the idea of having power over her. He also liked the idea of her taking her initiative in providing him… relief.

“Damn this all… If Xander were here, he would have snapped these thoughts out of my head,” he mumbled, before his fists clenched. “If Xander were here, Corrin would already be dead, as per father’s orders.”

Then he felt something building up inside his body.

Something… Primitive, he supposed it could be described.

He had asked for Odin to look over Corrin for now, but he _couldn’t_ guarantee her safety unless _he himself_ was watching her. Yes, he trusted his retainers… But this was something he needed to do himself.

As fast as he could, he returned to the room which was holding Corrin, shocking Odin as he tried to go through one of his silly theatric routines. “Odin – you can return to watch outside. I need you to keep an eye out for Niles and Camilla, because we need something _obvious_ for them to look out for on their way back.”

Corrin looked on through slight panic as Odin quickly slipped away, and Leo then proceeded to use a wooden chair to barricade the room’s entrance. She could tell that there was something playing on his mind, he always had this determined look on his face when they were children and he wanted to do something which he had in his thoughts.

She tried to use her feet to push herself against the wall to create some distance between them, but bit her lip when she realised that they were tied up in a way which made that action quite difficult without chafing her skin quite badly. Then she felt sweat slip down her temples as he approached her, and crouched down.

Leo stared directly into her eyes for a few moments, before he closed his own. “You hurt _everyone_ when you said that you were going to side with the Hoshidans. Do you _know_ what you did to us?” He remained silent for a moment, before continuing. “Camilla refused to leave her quarters in the castle for _weeks._ We could only communicate with her using her retainers,” he began, opening his eyes slightly. “Elise took to slipping into the underground area of Nohr to sell flowers that she picked at the castle. Normally flowers which _you_ liked. Seeing those flowers upset her, even though she would never mention it.”

Leo then reached out for her chin, and made sure that they would maintain eye contact.

“I… I’m so sorry, but when I found out-!”

“It’s too late for apologies. Now, where was I up to… Xander. He trained. He would train all day and night. He is extremely powerful – more powerful and dedicated to training than is healthy – just to get you back from Hoshido,” and then, Leo sighed. “Then… There is me. Corrin, you messed up _everything._ I’ve always known we were never related. That’s what made it so _painful_ when you left! I missed the times we would hide under your bedsheets reading books much to Gunter’s disdain, the times where I tried to teach you magic, and even the times where you would tell me my clothes were inside-out!”

His free rested on her leg when she started to cry, giving off repeated apologies as she tried to stem the tears.

“It hurt me more on the inside than anything. I tried not to let your betrayal impact my day-to-day tasks, but I was being _torn apart_ on the inside.”

“Wh- Why…?”

“Because I love you, damn it! And if you had stayed in Nohr, then- then we-!”

Corrin could tell that Leo was being more open than he had been in a long time, with the way his words were just spilling out. It… Made her feel horrified. She had always feared that she made the wrong choice, when it came to fighting the Nohrian royals… But seeing Leo like this made her feel that she had _definitely_ chose wrong.

“Leo-!”

“Shut up!” He was now glaring at her. “Apologies _won’t_ cut it. I demand that you compensate for all of his pain you have brought upon me, all because you made me fall in love with you.”

“Now?”

“Yes. _Now.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a kinda short chapter here, but I had a sudden idea and just had to get it wrote down???  
> Also there should... emphasis on should... be sexual content in the next chapter. But my mind gets very distracted at times. Tends to go pretty off track... and down the gutter. Oops.


End file.
